Friday, February 12, 2010
Walked from Nomads to Base backpackers and waited with a few other students for everyone. Eventually the group arrived, 60 students for both Auckland Tech and Victoria University of Wellington. They fed us sausages on bread for lunch, then we went to the first lecture meeting. This was the most interesting of the meetings, and we covered culture differences as well as some new Kiwi words: bach, knackered, tramping, cuppa, root, whinge, dairy, jandals, tea, chilly bin, petrol, lift, togs, dodgy, shout, pissed, jumper, sweet as.
After this we checked into our rooms then went out to explore Auckland. Watched the sky tower jumpers for a bit, and discovered some neat little parts of the city.
We also stopped by a dairy to see all the different foods (new Pringles flavors!) and got some chicken flavored crisps. They’re not bad, just tastes like a light dusting of the chicken flavoring packets from ramen noodles.
We went to the Waterfront restaurant for dinner with the AustraLearn group, then Heather and I went exploring more of the city until our feet couldn’t take anymore walking.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Got on the busses early and headed out to the Kiwi Paka hostel in Rotorua. Had a rest stop in Hobbiton on the way.
After a short meeting and lunch, we split up and half of us learned the Haka and the other half played rugby (with all the brainwashing I’ve been experiencing I need to mention here how the All Blacks are the greatest team ever).
The group I was in first learned the Haka that the All Blacks perform. Once we got the words and actions down, we dressed up and got some makeup on our faces to perform the final for video and photos.
I’m not sure how many people actually learned rugby and how many were just running in circles, but I am rather confident that more people were in the latter category.
For dinner, Sam, Monica, Heather, Raizel and I all wondered into downtown Rotorua to a place called Ambrosia.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
They haven’t been feeding us all that well, this morning we got corn flakes and milk with no spoons. Rumor has it there were pancakes for the early birds, but they went pretty fast. This was the free day, and all I had scheduled was the Polynesian Spa which was open all day. So I got on the van to the Zorb and went from there to the Agridome. The place had several busses with tourists from Japan, Germany, UK, etc. A big tourist stop but still very interesting.
The sheep show was introducing 19 of New Zealands most popular sheep breeds, a sheep shearing demo, cow milking demo, and several sheep dogs running around herding ducks and jumping over the sheep.
See the dogs in this one?
We went by ostriches, ducks, pigs, red deer, sheep, and cows on the farm tour. Stopped in a kiwi fruit orchard (sadly they weren’t ripe yet) and sampled kiwi fruit juice, honey, and kiwi fruit wine. The wine would have been very good if it hadn’t tasted like alcohol. After that we stopped to feed some alpacas and more sheep.
I walked back to the Zorb at 1:15 pm and watched several people roll down the hill in giant hamster balls with a few AustraLearn students from another orientation group. At 3:45 pm the Kiwi Paka van finally picked us up.
After dinner a large group of us went out to get ice cream and sit by the lake. Sam and I went to the Polynesian Spa after that to use our tickets, and we ran into a few other people we knew to walk back with.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Went to the thermal Maori village, Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao. If you have trouble remembering or saying that you can shorten it down to Whakarewarewa. Or Whaka if you’re still having problems. But it doesn’t get any easier than that. We took a tour of the village and learned how they use the thermal water in daily life.
As our volunteer day, we cut bamboo along a trail in the village. When the rain picked up it got too slippery passing the bamboo up the hill so we stopped early and wondered around the shops in town instead. The hot spring and steam vent cooked food looked amazing, but we got fed some rather unappetizing hot dog buns filled with who knows what.
Went back to the Kiwi Paka for our final meeting, and to sign up for cave tours tomorrow. Picked up for a hangi dinner at Tamaki Village. The bus driver was very entertaining and started the drive by explaining “Kia Ora” in 38 different languages over 10 minutes. A sample of his explanation: If you are from America, kia ora means “Howdy y’all” or “Wasssssup.” Aussie is “G’day mate. Have you seen my dingo?” If you are from France, I’m sorry, but the All Blacks are the greatest rugby team ever.
When we got to the village, we got a Maori greeting and peace offering, then walked around a small town setup to learn about Maori life, saw a music and dance performance, then the hangi dinner, and afterwards learned how the food was cooked with hot rocks and dirt. The bus drive out was just as entertaining as the drive in.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The bus for the 9:45 and 10 am Waitomo cave tours left at 7:40 am for the 2 hour drive. No more than 30 minutes from Rotorua the bus broke down. 45 minutes later we got a new one, and continued onwards. A tire or two popped and shredded later on this new bus and the driver pulled over to check it out, but he reported back “We’re going to keep on keeping on!”.
I went on the St. Benedict’s cavern tour. It started with 25 meters (82 feet) of abseiling (repelling) down to a small platform, then another 30 meters (98.4 feet). Walked across a log then climbed over lots of rubble and old roof, and found some fist-sized sea shell fossils. Stopped for a snack of juice and marshmallow fish. Then went on the speedy 30 meter (98.4 feet) zip line in the dark. Cave dark. There weren’t any glow worms in this cave, but it definitely had the most amazing formations I’ve ever seen. At the end we came across several large weta bug, and left the cave through a hobbit hole.
Postcard photos to show a few of the formations
Back at the Kiwi Paka hostel
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